WARNING: This post is rated M for Mature due to violent content. Read at your own risk!

As soon as Mom arrived on Thursday night we quickly changed and headed off to yoga on the dock at sunset. As usual, the view was breathtaking and the yoga relaxing.

From there it was off to dinner at Cruisin, which I’ve written about recently. Once again the food was amazing. I had the shrimp curry, which I’d had on Valentine’s Day, and Mom had the ribs, which were delish. Tony came as well, but left early because he wasn’t feeling very well. : ( Mom and I stayed through a leisurely dinner, chatting with the folks at the table next to us, and then walked home. It was after 10 by that point, on a school night, so Tony was already in bed. I was just going to clean up a few things, then head off to bed myself.

That was when Mom and I saw the first evidence of our unwanted visitor: A banana had been clawed apart and partially eaten, a hair was on the counter, and the corner of Tony’s new package of Oreos was shredded. A rat had been in the house while we were away! Yuck!

At that point we had the age-old problem of what to do with this new knowledge. We knew the rat had been in the house, but we didn’t know if it was STILL in the house. Did we shut everything up so that nothing else came in, but run the risk that the rat was hiding inside the house somewhere? Or, did we leave things open and hope that he’d go out on his own, while potentially inviting more unwanted guests? After searching the bedrooms for evidence and finding none, we opted for the former and hoped we wouldn’t find anything the next day.

Sure enough though, after returning from The Watering Hole and its delicious pizza on Friday night, we found more “gifts.” Tony set a trap and went to bed, still feeling quite under the weather, while Mom and I stayed up playing a game in the living room, all the lights blazing so nothing else would come in.

Suddenly I saw something out of the corner of my eye and heard the rustle of plastic. I looked around a bit, but didn’t see anything, so I figured it was my imagination. Then we heard another rustle. Mom looked toward the noise, which was coming from behind the refrigerator, and saw a massive tail! Instantly we were standing on the couch and yelling for Tony to come quick! (Yes, that stereotype about rodents and women is based in truth!)

Tony, despite his sickness, willingly accepted the challenge of dealing with the vermin. His first goal was to get the thing out from behind the fridge. With the aide of a broom handle, that mission was accomplished… partially… because then the thing ran behind the oven!

Tony’s next plan was to get it out from behind the oven with the broom handle and then clobber it with a tennis ball. Here he is winding up for the hit:

Well, that plan was an epic fail – no surprise there, right? Turns out the broom handle was too thick to fit under the oven and the rat was too smart to come out from there. Tony needed a new plan to get the thing out of its hiding place

He experimented with bug spray and matches to make a homemade torch. Thank goodness he decided against that option! I haven’t seen so much glee on his face in awhile though. He was having a really good time battling this rat!

Tony’s next plan involved creating a homemade spear by cracking the broom handle over the porch railing in hope of wounding the rat and coaxing it out from behind the oven. This is when things started to turn a little south… The spear wasn’t long enough to reach behind the stove and get the rat, so Tony moved to plan B. He located the rat in the corner between the wall and the oven. He lined up his spear with the rat. He then kicked the spear with all he was worth and we all heard the rat squeal! (It sounded like a squeaky toy, if you’re trying to recreate the scene in your head.)

At this point Mom and I decided it was time for us to leave the room until the battle was indeed over. Just standing on the couch and coffee table was no longer sufficient. A few minutes later Tony asked me to come out and take his picture. I asked him if I really had to, but he forcefully replied, “Lindy, please come take my picture!” Tony never wants me to take his picture. He gets annoyed when I try to take his picture. So, I decided I’d better get out there! He wanted to show off his “catch!”

Hilarious! The great hunter! Even the boys from Wisconsin who hunt Bear and Deer are greatly impressed by the catch!! Will continue to share the story with more family hunters:)
Love you, glad your rat free!

Welcome!

Thank you for checking out our blog! I started blogging during our 2 year stint in the British Virgin Islands and found I really enjoy journaling in this way. Now that we've purchased a 125 year old home, we are embarking upon a very different kind of adventure!